Celtics hire Brad Stevens to coach in stunning move

The 36-year-old Stevens spent the past six years as the head coach at Butler, leading the Bulldogs to two appearances in the NCAA championship game. He joins the Celtics with no NBA experience and will be asked to oversee a rebuilding project.

By Jim Fenton

The Patriot Ledger, Quincy, MA

By Jim Fenton

Posted Jul. 4, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Jul 4, 2013 at 4:00 AM

By Jim Fenton

Posted Jul. 4, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Jul 4, 2013 at 4:00 AM

» Social News

The last time they went to a college campus to hire a head coach, the Celtics signed Rick Pitino to a lucrative deal.

A 10-year, $50 million contract brought Pitino from the University of Kentucky to Boston in the spring of 1997, only the results were poor and the former Knicks coach was gone by January 2001.

As they get set to go through a rebuilding process, the Celtics have elected to try the college route again.

This time, they have hired 36-year-old Brad Stevens, who guided Butler University to NCAA championship games in 2010 and 2011, shocking the college basketball world twice.

The move to put Stevens, who reportedly is getting a six-year contract, is a stunner by president of basketball operations Danny Ainge and comes just over a week after Doc Rivers departed for the Los Angeles Clippers.

College coaches making the jump to the NBA have not had an overabundance of success in the past, but Ainge is banking on Stevens’ young age and his use of statistical analysis to change that pattern as the Celtics go forward without Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce.

“Brad and I share a lot of the same values,’’ said Ainge in a press release announcing the hiring late Wednesday afternoon. “Though he is young, I see Brad as a great leader who leads with impeccable character and a strong work ethic.

“His teams always play hard and execute on both ends of the court. Brad is a coach who has already enjoyed lots of success, and I look forward to working with him towards banner 18.’’

The hiring of Stevens, who had a contract at Butler through the 2021-22 season, was on absolutely no one’s radar screen.

Ainge had said twice in recent days he was in no hurry to find a head coach, and Stevens’ name was nowhere in any of the rumor mills.

It is certainly a risk by Ainge as the franchise moves away from contending for the title to reshaping a team led by Rajon Rondo, who can be a handful. Stevens and Ainge certainly don’t need any headaches from the All-Star point guard in what will be a rough ride ahead.

The Celtics have passed on some NBA assistant coaches and some head coaches who are out of work to take a chance on Stevens, who will be introduced at a press conference in Waltham on Friday morning.

Stevens, who is younger than Garnett, went 166-49 in six seasons at Butler. He played at DePauw University, got a job in the pharmaceutical field and joined the Butler staff as an assistant in 2000 to Thad Matta, getting the head coaching job in 2007.

The Indiana native brought the Bulldogs to the championship game in ’10 where they lost to Duke, and Butler repeated that surprising run by getting to the final a year later, losing to the University of Connecticut.

Page 2 of 2 - The Bulldogs managed to keep Stevens as other colleges, including UCLA recently, attempted to hire him away, but no move was made until Wednesday.

“We have done everything we can to keep Brad here at Butler,’’ said James Danko, the university president, in a press release. “However, the Celtics team has offered Brand and his family a unique opportunity with which no university can compete.’’

Stevens has left coaching at the college level to try life in the NBA, something he has never been a part of.

The Celtics have nine first-round draft picks in the next five years, and whether they use them all or trade some of them, young players are going to be dotting the roster.

It will be up to Stevens, who had so much success in such a short amount of time at Butler, to be a teacher and lead the Celtics through a bumpy road.

Pitino, who went 102-146 before bailing out in the middle of the 2000-01 season, was unable to make it work and went to Louisville.

The expectations were high when Pitino was brought in for big bucks and took over Red Auerbach’s title of president.

The expectations this time for a coach brought in from a college campus are not quite so high.

The hiring of Brad Stevens is a stunner as Ainge looks to find the right mix to put the Celtics on the proper path as soon as possible.